Tag Archives: hutong
Top 10 Places in Beijing Posted by sasha on May 25, 2015
Beijing is an enormous metropolis with a history going back thousands of years, and it’s usually the first stop for tourists coming to China. There’s enough to do in and around the city to keep you busy for years; trust me, I spent more than four of them living there. For travelers with only a…
Top 10 of 2014 Posted by sasha on Dec 30, 2014
2014 is just about in the books, and you know what that means – time for our Top 10 of the year! 10. Tricky Chinese Tones For new learners of Chinese – especially Westerners not used to tonal languages – the tones are confusing and frustrating. There’s more to the four tones of Chinese than…
Top 10 Places in Beijing – Qianmen to Jingshan Posted by sasha on Nov 29, 2013
We’re already half-way through our countdown of the Top 10 places in Beijing. Here’s a recap for those of you who’ve missed out: 10. Wudaokou – the student haunt of the Chinese capital. 9. 798 – a hip and trendy district full of art galleries and cafes. 8. Gulou – also known as the Drum…
Beijing Zombie Apocalypse Posted by sasha on Oct 31, 2013
What happens when a bunch of zombies walk through the hutongs and ride the subway in Beijing? Find out here! 万圣节 – wàn shèng jié Halloween 服装 – fú zhuāng costume 中国小孩子 – zhōng guó xiǎo hái zi Chinese children 安全 – Ān quán safety 僵尸 – jiāng shī zombie 我想吃脑子 – wǒ xiǎng chī…
Top 10 Places in Beijing – Beihai/Houhai Posted by sasha on Oct 24, 2013
Our countdown of the Top 10 places in Beijing continues as we get closer and closer to #1. So far, we’ve explored the student haunt of the Wu, gotten artsy in 798, channeled our inner Chipster (Chinese hipster) in Gulou, and practiced tai chi in the local parks. Our next stop is all about the…
Hutong Life in NLGX (胡同） Posted by Stephen on Aug 31, 2011
Following Sasha’s recent post on Beijing’s NLGX district or 南锣鼓巷 (nán luó gǔ xiàng), I thought I would write a little about my experience living in NLGX in a traditional or 传统 (chuántǒng) open courtyard house, called a 胡同 (hútòng). Hutongs are essentially open courtyard building complexes, centered around The translation for “hutong” literally means…